Those we love don’t go away,
They walk beside us every day,
Unseen, unheard, but always near,
Still loved, still missed and very dear.
I will always miss you.
Your sister, Aoife.
I clicked the user, hoping I’d get a contact or full name. Yes, it was stupid but it was my only lead. If Kyle’s aunt was alive, she could potentially be a match too.
“Shit, why don’t people sign in their full name?” I muttered to myself.
I tried to google up Aoife Sullivan but that didn’t produce any results. That wasn’t a name you heard often, so there shouldn’t be that many Aoife’s around. I googled her name again and again.
I was on a mission and was determined to find a piece of Kyle’s family to test as donors.
Twenty-Three
Mateo
Ihad been on a conference call for the past hour and my mood soured with each minute longer. I wanted to be with Brianna right now, find out how she liked the house. I never brought women to my home and it was lacking a woman’s touch. But she could easily remedy that.
Except she doesn’t want to be here.
I would give her time. Today ended up going slightly different than originally planned. Although, I couldn’t say that I regretted it. After all the restless days of trying to find out who she was, I was finally sated and at peace knowing she was with me.
“What are your thoughts, Mateo?” One of my security men, Marco, asked.
Shifting my focus, I concentrated on the task at hand. Someone attacked our men in South Boston and killed two. They were trying to confiscate a new shipment of goods. They were unsuccessful, but they escaped and we had nobody to interrogate. But my money was on the Irish.
“Double the security on the docks,” I told them. “Make our presence known in South Boston among the Irish. If they want war, they will get it. Have our friends in New York do the same in Hell’s Kitchen. In fact, I want the entire East Coast covered.”
Another five minutes of discussion and finally it was over.
“What’s got you so tense, Mateo?” Antonio asked me. He was the only one who could tell when I was tense.
I stood up and headed outside, although what I really wanted to do was go to Brianna. She had this incredible pull over me. I strode to the edge of the terrace that was surrounded by stone walls and a view of the ocean stretched for miles in front of me. This property was the first one I bought when I became the boss. It was with money I earned the legal way, since I was extremely good at business and finances. Being the head mobster wasn’t exactly what I strived for when I was young. I wanted to start my own investment business, accumulate enough money, and retire young. And here I was, heading it all. I started a multitude of businesses, even several investment businesses, and cleaned money through them. The organization had never been wealthier; we had more money than the Irish and Russians combined. I bought many properties since then but always came back to my first one.
I heard Antonio come up behind me as he placed his hand on my shoulder. He was slightly shorter than me, but no less deadly. He was the only one that could ever come behind me and not risk getting shot. Although today, Declan succeeded without effort. All because of a young woman who watched me with deep brown eyes that fascinated me. That woman consumed every fiber of me.
I glanced up and caught a view of Brianna through the stone rails. She sat on the floor of the balcony, her head leaning against the wall and her eyes closed. She belonged here with me but not in my world. One fuck and I was already dragging her into my cave, ready to barricade the doors.
“I never sensed or heard Declan come up behind me,” I told Antonio, my gaze still on Brianna’s unsuspecting form.
“I see,” he replied.
Silence lingered in the air. This pull to be around Brianna was so strong, it made me oblivious to surroundings. It could be dangerous for her and for me. And she had a young child to worry about.
“She refuses to bring her daughter to stay here,” I grunted. Antonio listened, waiting. He knew me too well, and it made me a bastard to do the next thing. “I want you to dig up anything you can on her.”
“Mateo-” I cut him off.
“And I want the name of her ex,” I told him, turning my gaze back to Antonio. He had a look in his eyes that told me he disagreed. Maybe there was something of my mother’s I inherited after all, because intense jealousy ate at me with just a thought of her with someone else.
“Which ex or all of them?” he ended up asking, on a deep sigh.